Feb. 4
Kentucky Utilities has agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty and
spend $135 million on pollution controls to resolve violations of the Clean
Air Act, according to the Justice Department and the U.S. EPA.
·Today’s settlement sets the most stringent limit for nitrogen oxide
emissions ever imposed in a federal settlement with a coal-fired power
plant,ö said Catherine McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Kentucky Utilities has agreed to install new pollution control equipment on
its largest generating unit that will reduce combined emissions of sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxides by more than 31,000 tons per year, which is 90
percent below the 2007 emission levels. The utility will also install
controls to reduce particulate matter emissions by 1,000 tons per year.
Kentucky Utilities will spend $3 million on projects to benefit the
environment and mitigate the adverse effects of the alleged violations. They
money includes $1.8 million for a pilot project demonstrating the
effectiveness of storing compressed carbon dioxide in deep injection wells,
spending $1 million retrofitting school buses to reduce emissions of
particulate matter, and paying $200,000 to help restore Mammoth Cave
National Park.
In a complaint filed in March 2007, the government accused Kentucky
Utilities of modifying the largest coal-fired electrical generating unit at
the E. W. Brown Generating Station in Mercer County, Ky., in 1997 without
installing required pollution control equipment or complying with applicable
emission limits, in violation of the Clean Air Act. The government
discovered the violations through an information request submitted to the
utility.
Details on the settlement are available at epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/kucompany.html
Contact Waste & Recycling News senior reporter Bruce Geiselman at
330-865-6172 or bgeiselman@crain.com
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